Foreign scholars get to study for free while I use CPF to pay for my kid's education

By Tham

Readers out here, do share my grief; do share my agony; do share my anger; do share my frustration, when:


My son graduated from NUS in 2012 and the graduation ceremony was held in the middle of July that year; more than 700 fresh graduates sat in the auditoriums waiting for their turns to be awarded their degree scrolls on stage.


As parents, both myself and my wife attended the Commencement ceremony together with my daughter on that very evening.


There were thousands of parents in the audience who attended this ceremony in addition to the numerous others held before this particular one and immediately thereafter.


Judging from the manner the mother tongue was spoken amongst the audience in this ceremony itself, I gather more than 70% of them are from People's Republic of China (PRC)!


As a matter of courtesy and also in part being rather joyful witnessing the graduation of our children, we mingled and chatted freely with all these other PRC parents.


What really frustrated, angered and antagonized us is that the parents of these PRC graduates were saying :


1) Ooooh, this Singapore PAP Government is very kind and generous in giving out FREE EDUCATION, FREE TUITION FEE, FREE LODGING & FOOD AND EVEN MONTHLY POCKET MONEY TO THEIR CHILDREN TO STUDY HERE WHICH IS HARDLY AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD….!!!!


2) While a bond is required to be signed as a formality so that after their children are obligated to work in Singapore to repay the loans dispensed to them, THEY CAN AT ANY TIME SIMPLY CHOOSE TO FLEE BACK TO CHINA TO TEMPORARILY HIDE THEMSELVES AND THEREAFTER GO TO OTHER COUNTRIES TO SEEK A HIGH SALARIED JOB WITH GREAT PROSPECTS!!!!


At this juncture we need to ask ONE VERY BASIC SIMPLE QUESTION :


Why aren’t our own True Native Born Singaporeans being accorded with such privileges when they are eligible to enroll for a place in a local university given their parents have been long contributing to the building of this nation???


My son, a True Native Born Singaporean; served his two and a half years of Full Time National Service in the Army; his parents are both also True Native Born Singaporeans who have contributed so much in the past decades to this nation; I myself too served the Part-Time National Service for 12 years with 5 years in the Army and 7 years in the Police Force…!!!!


As a filial son, my boy was reluctant to use my CPF money to pay for his University tuition fees in view of my health & age, among other reasons.


As such he worked full time during the day as a simple technician and with his lean income, he saved hard to ensure he could afford to pay for his studies at NUS.


Point to add, 5 years back when my daughter studied at NUS, she borrowed from my CPF to pay for her university studies.


AND THERE WAS A COMPULSORY NEED FOR HER TO SEEK A GUARANTOR WHO MUST BE A WORKING SINGAPOREAN BEFORE SHE IS APPROVED TO TAKE UP THE BORROWINGS FROM MY CPF ACCOUNT…!!!!


We (our whole family) together with our relatives, friends and colleagues whom are acquainted with us do lament: UNFAIRNESS AND ABUSIVE POLICIES OF THE PAP GOVERNMENT OVER ON HOW THEY HAVE ILL TREATED ALL OUR TRUE NATIVE BORN SINGAPOREANS….!!!!


Last but not Least, PAP can be rest assured that those within our known circle of friends and acquaintances who were aware about our predicament will NEVER VOTE FOR THIS PARTY FROM THEREON IN EACH GENERAL ELECTION…!!! Thank you very much.


This was reproduced with permission from editors of The Real Singapore.


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